AA came about through a WW1 Christian group that called themselves the Oxford group. Their austrian founder actually tried tom preach some sense into the brown shirts with little luck.

AA co-founder Dr Bob attended Oxford meetings and later Bill W would follow. The Oxford group had some success treating Firestone's (tire fame) kid using a spiritual model. Once professional salesman Bill W dried out, although he found he couldn't convert anyone else to sobriety, trying, kept him sober. That is why AA continues to use the Lords Prayer in their meetings with the adage, one alcoholic helping another. Something breakaway 12 step programs can have issues with today. OA was founded in LA by Roseanne (a jew). So you can see where a new model was needed.Now it's called, under an incredibly loose interpretation, Higher Power.

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Laurie Allee

Writer. Photographer. Mom.

The History of Glimpses

In December of 2007, after many years on the west side of Los Angeles (and at least a third of those years spent stuck in traffic on Pico Boulevard) my family settled into a happy little house in South Pasadena. This daily blog covered over 4 year as I put down roots in my new home town.

My New Blog -- LA: Other

LA: Other. Inside the City ... Outside the Box. Check Out LA Stories, Photos and Video on My New Blog Launching September, 2014.

Prints Available at Redbubble

Check out my multimedia column archive: Views from the Front Porch

Published at Patch.

Elsewhere...

July, 2014: It's been a long haitus but I'm ready to get back to my blogging roots! My new blog LA: Otheris officially launching in September. This blog will be very similar to Glimpses, but will include all of Southern California as a subject, not just my beloved back yard. I am also going to post video pieces as well as still photography. (And, of course, my usual commentary.) Also, as much as I love daily blogging, LA: Other stories require more time so I'll be posting regularly but not every day. Hope to see you all there.

Thank you Charlie's Coffee House for hosting my photo exhibit, South Pas: Observed. From October 2011 through January 2012 my pictures graced the walls of the best place in town to get a cup of coffee!

Read the nifty story on photo bloggers Petrea Burchard, Ben Wideman, Kat Likkel and little old me featured in the September, 2011 issue of Pasadena Magazine.

About This Blog

The thumbnail view:

For over 4 years, I presented a picture a day from South Pasadena, California -- an incorporated city within the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. All photos up to November, 2008 were taken with a Fujifilm Finepix E900 camera. I added a Fujifilm Finepix S2000HD megazoom in December 2008, a Nikon D3100 in 2010 and a Lumix DMC-DS8 in 2011. I shot with them all. In August 2010 I joined the iPhone camera craze and sometimes included pictures captured by my phone. I regularly cropped images and used basic editing software to adjust the brightness, intensify the contrast, and increase color saturation. Other than that, all images came straight from the camera with minimal alteration. (If I couldn't have done it in a darkroom, I wouldn't do it with a computer.)

The bigger picture:

Consider it a love letter to the place I call home.

You can click on any picture to see a larger version.

All photos and prose on this blog copyright Laurie Allee. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited. (Plus, it's really uncool.)

Who Reads This Blog?

Yes, I'm on Twitter

And on Instagram

And Building my YouTube Channel

Great Books by Local Bloggers

Novel lovers, look out! Everybody's favorite San Gabriel Valley daily photoblogger Petrea Burchard takes us on a journey back to King Arthur's 'hood in her wonderful debut novel Camelot and Vine. (If you don't fall madly in love with her smart-ass narrator, you definitely deserve to be put into an iron maiden.) Be sure to keep up with Petrea at her legendary blog, Pasadena Daily Photo, AKA: Living Vicuriously.

And while we're on the subject of great takes on old themes, be sure to pick up a copy of Margaret Finnegan's delightful debut novel, The Goddess Lounge -- undoubtedly the kookiest, most wonderful riff on Homer's Odyssey ever written. Margaret never ceases to inspire and make us laugh at her blog Finnegan Begin Again. Her book is magical, silly, smart and a wonderful love letter to the all the goddesses among us.

Kevin McCollister of East of West LA blows our minds with haunting images of Los Angeles. But since we can't put his blog on our coffee table, we can buy his fantastic book. I believe Kevin's images truly capture the quixotic and often heartbreaking soul of LA. Don't take my word for it, see what The LA Times had to say.